FRIDAY 22 MAY, 2015

Princess Mononoke (1997)

iyazaki’s first major crossover hit, the film’s US release was es you in a universe at once relatable and beyond imagination, in his unparalleled storytelling. Immersive, transportative and actually somewhat bungled, considering its record-break- which otherworldly creatures and visuals are used to comment breathtakingly beautiful, it is everything that is Miyazaki and it Bing Japanese run and it was only after international eloquently on very real-world issues, in a manner that is clearly reminds us how, at his very best, Miyazaki can be everything. response was strong and the DVD sales immense, that delivering a message, but is never less than thrilling. “Princess ‘Mononoke’ really established Miyazaki’s and Studio Ghibli’s inter- Mononoke” is perhaps the finest expression of Miyazaki’s visual national box office credentials. But in what style! The film immers- inventiveness uniting seamlessly with his thematic concerns and Porco Spirited Away (2001) few of Miyazaki’s movies can be read as riffs on classic fairy tales, and “Spirited Away” is one that takes the basic premise of “Alice in Wonderland” and mutates it, wonderfully, into something alto- Agether unique and at times unsettling, accurately embodying the jaunty uncanniness of Lewis Rosso (1992) Carroll’s trip in a way that many straight-up adaptations have failed. Hauntingly beautiful and really very odd, “Spirited Away” served as something of a second breakthrough for the director, winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. It’s a testament to Miyazaki’s considerable prowess as a storyteller.

requently cited as one of the director’s weirdest films, mainly because it’s hardly weird at all, “Porco Rosso” could almost be a straight-up Tintin-style historical fiction of derring-do, were it Fnot for the fact that its hero is an aviation ace who, under an only-vaguely-explained curse, is an anthropomorphized pig. In fact, the whole being-a-pig element is one of the least striking things about Porco/Marco, as the film works wonderfully well as a portrait of a kind of Bogart or Mitchum- esque cynical hero, who likes to believe he’s only out for himself, but who comes slowly into his heroism via a series of adventures, an exposure to the innocence of a talented young female engi- neer, and, of course, the steadfast love of a good woman. “Porco Rosso” is one the Japanese master’s most straightforward stories, and just as compelling and imaginative for it.

The Wind Rises (2013)

iyazaki’s last film is also one of his most quietly affect- ing. While peppered with fantasy sequences, “The MWind Rises” eschews the magical inclinations of many of Miyazaki’s most iconic films, instead presenting a rel- atively straightforward biography of Jiro Horikoshi, a real-life Japanese airplane designer who was responsible for the Japanese Zero Fighter in World War II. This subject matter has lent the film an undue amount of controversy, with many claiming that the movie sweetens and makes sympathetic a deadly warmonger who knowingly built killing machines. But this discussion misses the point entirely, since the movie is mostly about the limitless power of imagination and the way that designs can transcend their purpose, which, frankly, has been a recurring theme of Miyazaki’s for decades with less than a murmur of protest. (www.indiewire.com)